Vertical lines on Panny Plasmas on the right side??

[MDRiggs]

Interesting - don't recall seeing that on a ST30. Does it only appear under certain circumstances and/or is only visible from some angles of view?

Easy to see with a flashlight when the TV is off -- on both sides immediately adjacent to the bezel. The structure actually looks slightly different on the two sides, but it's the same width. Looks like it might be electrical connections into the panel.

[MDRiggs]

you are correct it not part of the active display , however you would think that they would try to do a better job of putting them behind the bezel where they should be.

They're very thin, though. I don't notice them normally.

[mrleelee]

Hi everyone,

Just signed up here as I am having some problems with my GT30 and this thread sounds like what I am seeing. On the right hand side of the screen, I see very faint (but quite thick) lines going down, only about two and they are really hard to make out but now I know they are there I seem to see them every time I am watching something!

I can see it pretty clearly when there is a grey colour on the screen but am finding it very difficult to get a picture of it. I can also make it out when there is fast moving action on the screen. The best way to describe it is it looks like there is a bit that is lit up above the top of the screen that is shining down and making the lines brighter than the rest of the screen. I have only had the GT30 for about 3 weeks now, will these just go when the TV has had time to settle in? Or am I needing to get onto the company and say there is a fault? Cheers for any help anyone can give me

[cinema626]

you are correct it not part of the active display , however you would think that they would try to do a better job of putting them behind the bezel where they should be.
this of couse never used to happen with the thicker bezels of yesteryear, of course on the other side it doesnt stick out as much

yes it did. my kuro has the same 1/2" gap on either side. it's normal.

[polakis]

I got my 3rd 55vt50 here in Greece, same fault vertical line on the right side! I dont know what to do anymore! I want a proper 55vt50!!! Should i go for my 4th change or stay with the one thick vertical line?

[SQAudiophile]

I also have right side vertical line on my 60GT50. Noticeable on gray and white slides mostly. Only about 20 hours on the TV so I'm hoping it goes away. If not, exchanging with Newegg within 30 days. No buzzing and good picture otherwise.

[Rebellion]

I got my 3rd 55vt50 here in Greece, same fault vertical line on the right side! I dont know what to do anymore! I want a proper 55vt50!!! Should i go for my 4th change or stay with the one thick vertical line?

Is it viewable with normal material?

[PersianImmortal]

i wish people would look up what certain things mean before they use certain terminology. I have seen the vertical bars and they are not "banding".

Banding is a term frequently used for anything which causes thin vertical or horizontal bands to appear on the screen. It's not a highly technical term, it's a literal description of what appears on the screen. This is not to be confused with color banding, which is actually technically called Posterization. Similarly, Dirty Screen Effect is not a technical term, it's a literal description of what people see: a "dirty screen".

In any case these bands/DSE/vertical lines - whatever you want to call them - can have several different causes. In this latest iteration, as I mentioned, it seems that it is a systematic physical manufacturing fault as it occurs on the same area on affected sets. It's just the unfortunate reality of cheap consumer electronic goods these days.

[polakis]

Is it viewable with normal material?

Yes it is. Its there in every scene. It depends on the colours. Mostly appears in light colour backrounds. For example it doesnt appear in black screen...

[Rebellion]

I personally think its defective, have you gotten a tech out to the house yet?

[SQAudiophile]

Going to call a tech out to get second opinion. Fading a bit each day as more hours get on the unit so that's a good sign.

[jav1]

Faint vertical line on left side of my VT50, nothing on the right.

[Dierk]

Faint vertical line on left side of my VT50, nothing on the right.

Our 60ST50 arrived with (or soon developed) several minor uniformity glitches - most noticeably a vertical "shadow" just to the left of the Right bezel.

None of these were visible outside of a couple of gray slides, and - to the best of my ability to discern - all had disappeared by the time our "new panel aging" routine was completed.

PQ now appears Excellent (given a good quality source, of course....), with wonderful colors & nice deep blacks - can only imagine what a VT50 must look like!


We were told - by a Pan Svc Tech - that the 2011 plasma panels "required 500 hours to fully settle in," and experience with 3 2011 panels (that were ran for 500 hours or more) suggested that that statement was not entirely without merit.

Even though I suspect that the range is probably "something in excess of a couple hundred hours" - with "500" simply intended to be Safely High figure - our particular 2012 plasma also seems to have "improved with age." (Like a fine wine, perhaps??)


In any event, here's hoping that your VT50 will also "smooth out" over the first several hundred hours.


Now, if we could only be rid of the Darn Bright White IR Issues.....

[NightHawk]

An observation: to my eyes any non-uniformity visible when the 2012 Panasonic plasmas (like my ST50) are new on some of the gray slides appears like initial IR.
Over the past week (bought my 50ST50 early last week), after running the slides for 100 hours, it has faded a lot on my set just like IR does after running the slides overnight.
I don't notice any of the faint lines in normal content, now only barely up close on the darkest gray slide.

[PersianImmortal]

For the record, it seems Panasonic is taking the exact same approach to this issue as it did with the green blobs. From this post on the UK AVforums:

Thank you for the images on the banding, I can confirm that we have had this particular question checked out with our QA and Factory, they have said that the line you see is within specification and is due to the way the Panel has to be made, so I am afraid that nothing can be done, as all panels have to be made this way.

As suspected, it is a systematic manufacturing fault. I don't want to single out Panasonic for criticism, as unfortunately Samsung, LG, Sony etc. are all doing much the same thing with their own variety of faults. But it is a sad state of affairs when visible vertical bands on a plasma screen are considered "within specification" by any manufacturer. One of plasma's key advantages is its supposedly excellent uniformity, but due to lack of quality control, that is looking like a thing of the past for many new owners.

[Rebellion]

If the line can be seen during normal content its unacceptable. Period. If I decide to order a VT50 and my set has it, I will make sure that they replace the TV. I don't care what I would have to do. Thats not acceptable.

[PersianImmortal]

The issue isn't really whether it's acceptable, because most of us can agree that it's not. The real issue is that Panasonic has basically acknowledged that it is a systematic and common fault due to the manufacturing method. Hence you may have to go through a fair few sets before finding one which doesn't have it. And not every retailer will put up with that sort of set-swapping, so at some point you might end up getting stuck with a TV that has screen uniformity issues.

[Dietstu]

Yes I definitely have these on my 60st50. Only noticeable on grey screens. A really good way to see it is to download the Vimeo app. The menu screen for that app is dark grey and it shows the dark band fairly clearly.

[Dietstu]

Here's a photo for reference.

[PersianImmortal]

Having read some more about this and seeing a few more examples here and on other forums, I'm starting to think things are being confused by the fact that there are actually two separate causes for this problem. The problem of Dirty Screen Effect/banding itself is not new by the way, it's been around for years and my two faulty 2010 Panasonic V20s had both types.

The first cause is, as discussed earlier, unevenly applied anti-reflective (AR) coating. This tends to give a more general "dirty screen" look, often with banding across the screen. Importantly, you can usually see signs of it by looking at the screen at an angle when the TV is off during the daytime. Both my 2010 Panasonics had this, it was clearly visible as an AR filter issue, and on the first TV caused 2-3 vertical bands of brighter areas to appear in the middle area of the screen. For example, in a western movie with bright blue skies, you could see an unmistakeable bright spot/band in the middle centre of the screen. On the second 2010 Pana, there were no specific bands due to the filter, it was just applied quite unevenly overall, and mid-white screens looked very "dirty", as though there were faintly smeared patches of dust on the screen. Either way, this type of fault cannot be fixed, it requires a full panel/TV swap.

The second cause, which may actually be the likely culprit for the issue on the 50 series, is symptomized by a neat long vertical band, often close to the edge of the screen. My second 2010 Pana had one of these around 1 inch away from the left side, and it ran the full height of the screen. It was an area which was consistently lighter than the rest of the screen in most content. This seems to be an electronics or phosphor-related fault, and has nothing to do with the AR filter. It can even look almost like a shadow or halo edge. On my TV it was unnoticeable at times in normal content, but definitely visible on grey slides and some panning scenes. This fault may be fixable by exchanging the internal electronics, or possibly even via firmware, but in my case the Panasonic tech simply said there was nothing he could do about it - it may well be faulty electronics within the panel itself. It may also reduce with age as the phosphors generally dim and hence make it less detectable. Mine didn't dim with age, but I only had the set for around 300 hours before it went back.

The fact that it looks almost like strong line bleed is one more hint that it's some sort of fault with the way the panel is addressing certain columns, almost as though it is stuck producing a slightly higher charge along the affected columns. Once again it is unclear as to whether this is fixable via replacing or reprogramming drive circuitry or internal components in the panel which are not performing optimally (i.e. panel/TV replacement required).

While watching TV with these faults, lighter content will generally highlight both forms of banding above. That is, content with lower Contrast, or in a mode which uses lower overall panel brightness. Panning scenes with pastel colors also make your eyes aware of it unless the scene is extremely bright. Very bright content/settings/modes will mask it, which is probably why some people won't notice it much.

The fact that Panasonic has admitted that this is a systematic fault across their range doesn't really make it clear what the particular cause is or whether they will be able to issue a fix. However it's important that people with the problem report it to Panasonic, and also check to make sure it's not the AR filter, because if it is, it's never going to lessen or disappear, and the only cure is a replacement panel or TV. Don't settle for a non-uniform screen if you're fussy, as it is possible to get one without uniformity problems - though it will take a lot of time and effort.